MANILA, Philippines — Amid the prolonged coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Social Security System (SSS) has again given employers and the self-employed some more time or until Dec. 1 to remit their mandatory employee contributions to the state-run pension fund.
In a statement Saturday, the SSS said the newest payment deadline was originally Nov. 30 as approved by the Social Security Commission (SSC) but since it fell on a holiday (Bonifacio Day), the remittances will be accepted until the next working day.
At the height of the longest and most stringent COVID-19 lockdown in the region, the SSS during several times moved the contribution payment deadline in consideration of the quarantine movement restrictions.
The extended cut-off date will cover workers’ dues from February to October if these were yet to be paid by their employers.
Also, the new deadline applies to employers with SSS-approved installment proposals who needed to deposit their post-dated checks falling due between March and October.
Employers currently shoulder two-thirds of the 12-percent monthly contribution rate, while the rest were being deducted from employees’ salaries.
“Contribution payments of employers for the said applicable periods would not incur penalties if paid within the deadline,” the SSS said.
As for the SSS’s self-employed, voluntary and non-working spouse members, they can still pay their contributions due for the months of January to September.
The SSS reminded its self-employed, voluntary, and non-working spouse members that “no contributions paid retroactively will be used in determining their eligibility for any benefit claim wherein the date of payment falls within or after the semester of contingency.”
SSS president and chief executive Aurora C. Ignacio said the extended deadline was in line with the ongoing implementation of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Law.
Ignacio nonetheless urged employers and SSS members to no longer wait for the cut-off date if they can afford it.
“Apart from over-the-counter payment facilities, we and our bank partners have online platforms where employers and members can make their SSS payments in the convenience and safety of their homes or offices,” Ignacio said, adding that the list of collecting-partners can be found on the SSS’s Facebook page.